Amazon moves to check fake sellers

The e-commerce giant, which counts India as its most important international market, is witnessing a higher number of instances where unverified sellers are listing fake products across online marketplaces in the country

New Delhi: Amid increased scrutiny of counterfeit products in India’s $18-billion e-commerce business, online retailer Amazon is introducing a slew of measures to clamp down on fake sellers and weed out potential counterfeit products from its marketplace.

The e-commerce giant, which counts India as its most important international market, is witnessing a higher number of instances where unverified sellers are listing fake products across online marketplaces in the country. Amazon is ready for these so-called “bad actors", according to a top company executive.

“The rate at which bad actors are attempting to fraud and abuse our customers and sellers is definitely increasing much faster than the rate at which the business is growing," said Dharmesh Mehta, vice president for consumer and brand protection at Amazon.

One out of every five products sold on e-commerce platforms is potentially counterfeit, according to a recent survey by citizen engagement platform LocalCircles.

Major e-commerce players including Flipkart, Amazon India, Snapdeal and ShopClues have recently received notices from the Drug Controller General of India to delist sellers on their platforms, after cosmetics brands complained about counterfeit products. Amazon has launched several initiatives to tackle the problem.

For seller onboarding, Amazon has put in place machine learning models to detect potential risks of the seller’s account and check products and prices along with many other variables that fit the model. This helps Amazon eliminate unverified players at an early stage.